Footwear comprises garments worn on the feet for adornment and protection and have been around for thousands of years. In fact the oldest known footwear made of woven sagebrush bark indicates humans have been wearing shoes for ten-thousand (10,000) years. Over the generations footwear has become highly technical and specialized for various activities, including running, hiking, everyday wear, and the like. Boots, sandals, loafers, and slippers made from leather, plastic, rubber, and even wood can be found in shoe stores around the world. Although footwear protects a user's foot and improvements in comfort have increased, regularly wearing shoes can cause feet to become fatigued, uncomfortable, and even damaged over a period of time.
Many people find relaxation and overall comfort from receiving a personal massage. While these massages can be applied virtually anywhere on the human body, one area in particular that is often massaged is the foot. For many people, direct and firm massage to the sole of the foot can reduce muscle aches and pains and even reduce stress and strain. If nothing else, it just feels good. While many people massage their feet immediately after removing their shoes, it is usually only for a limited time and thus the beneficial results are short-lived. While larger automatic massaging devices do exist, most are not specifically designed for the foot and cannot easily be used while at work, while simply waiting for the bus, or while performing any other activity.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which one's feet can protected in a normal manner while always having a means to receive a soothing and relaxing foot massage, still while not encumbering the user from performing other activities. The development of the invention herein described fulfills this need.
Various attempts have been made in the past to overcome these problems and provide for messaging footwear. Among the solutions are several U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,831, issued in the name of Seltzer, describes footwear having an inner sole with an upwardly projecting raised flat foot support and spaced massage bumps which provide a sort of acupressure stimulation to the bottom of a wearer's foot. However, unlike the present apparatus, the Seltzer massage footwear relies heavily on precise location of the acupressure bumps to provide relief and requires the wearer to apply the massaging pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,690, issued in the name of Chang, describe footwear having an elongated sole and a plurality of spring-loaded massage rods which provide an opposing pressure point to the bottom of the wearer's foot during walking or other activity. However, unlike the present apparatus, the Chang footwear with adjustable massage units again relies on pressure point locations to provide massaging relief requires the wearer to manually participate in the massage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,743, issued in the name of Chien, describes a massaging slipper having a movable massaging ball mounted to a top surface of the slipper. However, unlike the present apparatus, the Chien structure of massaging slipper does not provide the functionality of everyday footwear.
Other known prior art for footwear with massaging means include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,287,638 and 6,234,987.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and appear to disclose various attempts to provide a means of massaging the foot and providing varying levels of protection; none of the prior art particularly discloses footwear which provide the protection and comfort of everyday shoes and provides for the soothing effects of a foot massage. Accordingly, there exists a need for an apparatus that operates without the disadvantages as described above.